Google 'books' Lehigh Valley talent
Source: Scott Kraus
Rivlin (THE MORNING CALL / September 5, 2011)
The next time you read an eBook using Google, or any eBook for that matter, you might want to thank former Lower Saucon resident John Rivlin.
The 55-year-old former technology company CEO, who spent most of his teenage years in the Lehigh Valley, sold his own business― eBook Technologies ― to the search engine behemoth in January for an undisclosed amount, and is now paving the way for future eBook technology as an engineering manager with Google.
He sees big things for the future of electronic reading.
"I think we have just scratched the surface in what is possible in reading and the whole reading experience," Rivlin said. "As technology improves and screens improve, there is no telling what is possible. Part of making a great reading experience is making the whole ecosystem of books and development of books from author and publisher work more smoothly, so that more information can be conveyed in more lively ways."
Google's acquisition of eBook Technologies in January came on the heels of the company's launch of its cloud-based Google Books service, which allows customers to read books directly in their Internet browser or other platforms, without the need for a separate device like a Nook or Kindle.
Computer publications, such as IT World, viewed the acquisition as a signal Google is upping its efforts to make inroads in eBook publishing and distribution.
Google's effort to digitize books hasn't been free from controversy. The company has been fighting lawsuits filed by book publishing companies over copyright issues, and lacks its own e-reader device like those sold by Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Rivlin said one of Google's advantages is that the books can be read on a variety of platforms, from tablet computers to a traditional Internet browser and the Nook.
The son of Violet and the late Ronald Rivlin, a Lehigh University applied mathematics professor, John Rivlin attended private schools, including the Swain School, Moravian Academy and the prestigious Lawrenceville School near Princeton, N.J. He now lives in Palo Alto, Calif.
"I grew up really as kind of a general math science kid who was kind of interested in tinkering with things," Rivlin said. "I took a lot of time as a kid taking apart motorcycles."
A 1974 Lawrenceville School graduate, he remembers the Saucon Valley area as "very rural," but has fond memories of his time spent locally. He hasn't been back to the Lehigh Valley since he relocated his parents to California about five years ago.
"We were like the only house on our street when I was there and it is now completely built-out, it is amazing how the area has evolved," Rivlin said. "It has become more of a high-tech center."
A graduate of Cornell University, Rivlin headed up a series of companies that specialized in eBook-related technologies, including one that was briefly acquired by TVGuide. He was among the earliest creators of eBooks and e-reader software. One of his first professional projects was the creation of software for word processing.
Rivlin credits his entrepreneurial spirit, and skepticism of large corporations and their rigid management practices, in part, to watching the gradual decline of Bethlehem Steel and its effect on the Valley.
"Some of my perspective on big companies and entrepreneurship come out of seeing Bethlehem Steel go from being on top of the world and having a very set view of things to seeing it kind of fall apart more or less," he said.
How does that gibe with working for one of the world's largest technology companies? Google is big, but flexible, he said, unlike most large corporations. It likes to bring in talented experts and give them the freedom to experiment with a safety net.
"Things are super-organized, but there is also this recognition that you have collected a lot of smart people together and you have to let them think about things and work them out," Rivlin said.
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